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Economic Development

More momentum toward a "Grand Bargain"

January 21, 2010 – 1:27 pm

Governor Jennifer Granholm's last, and most challenging, state of the state and budget addresses are both coming in the next month.
And, like a surfer in sunny southern California, she has an opportunity to ride a swell of momentum for big changes in the way Michigan does the public's business. Two quick examples…
1. Growing Sentiment on [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts | Comments (3)

'Can farming save Detroit?'

January 14, 2010 – 11:00 am

One of the most in-depth explorations of that question — or at least of one of the largest proponents of large-scale farming in Motown, appears in this month's Fortune Magazine. An excerpt…
Yes, a farm. A large-scale, for-profit agricultural enterprise, wholly contained within the city limits of Detroit. (Stockbroker John) Hantz thinks farming could do his [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Entrepreneurialism, Fresh Thoughts | Comments (3)

SPECIAL REPORT: How some Midwestern cities loosen the rust belt

January 7, 2010 – 11:26 am

By John Foren
The design was scrawled on a napkin. It was no Rembrandt, but it communicated everything you needed to know about the hopes and dreams of what would become the Silvermine Stone Company.
That's where Brian Doudna, who heads the Economic Development Corp. in Eau Claire, Wisc., comes in. The EDC helped turn the napkin [...]

By The Center for Michigan | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts | Comments (3)

SPECIAL REPORT: Benchmarking the economies in "Big Ten" college towns

December 17, 2009 – 8:24 am

By Melissa Preddy
Nine months ago, Tera Johnson officially launched a dream, presiding over the first shift at her new $14 million Wisconsin Specialty Protein whey-processing plant in Reedsburg near the University of Wisconsin.
Next month, Johnson’s "Teraswhey" brand of protein supplements will hit the shelves in 200 Whole Foods markets nationwide, and her factory will produce [...]

By The Center for Michigan | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, K-16 Education, Quality of Place | Comments (2)

SPECIAL REPORT: Inside Michigan's economic growth zones

December 10, 2009 – 11:38 am

By John Foren
The positive economic numbers for Michigan are eye-popping and jolting.
One economist says they "did shock me." Others say they are the untold story of a state whose national reputation is being fashioned as an industrial graveyard and cautionary tale.
You may have thought this decade has brought us only nation-leading unemployment statistics and [...]

By The Center for Michigan | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts | Comments (4)

SUCCESS STORY: Michigan students join the wind economy

November 13, 2009 – 11:04 am

Editor's Note: This is the latest in our continuing series of success stories across Michigan. We get our story ideas from participants in the Center for Michigan's Community Conversations. Have an idea? Email us.
By Jo Mathis
 Now that the auto industry has taken a back seat in Michigan's economy, many are counting on a redefined [...]

By The Center for Michigan | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts | Comments (2)

SPECIAL REPORT: AN INSIDE LOOK AT MICHIGAN'S REGIONAL ECONOMIES

October 15, 2009 – 1:09 pm

Beyond the dismal unemployment numbers, what's happening in Michigan's economy? Are there spots of growth? Are some regions healthier than others? How do Michigan's distinct regional economies compare to others in the Great Lakes and across the nation?
New numbers from the feds provide fascinating and provocative answers to those questions.
At the end of September, the [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, Papers, Quality of Place, The Center at Work | Comments (6)

Good business, good news

September 30, 2009 – 6:03 pm

Beyond the palpable gloom of the overall Michigan unemployment clouds, good news continues to dribble out on occasion. Six recent examples…
1. Up to 1,000 new high-tech jobs in Ann Arbor. Systems in Motion, a fast-growing IT start-up from Silicon Valley announced big plans this month for expansion in Silicon Valley.
2. More jobs than talent projected [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, The Center at Work | Comments (0)

50 Ideas to Fix Michigan

September 25, 2009 – 10:55 am

Here's an example of the good things that can come out of those giant gabfests like the annual policy conference on Mackinac Island right after Memorial Day each year… This year on the Island, Detroit News editorial page editor Nolan Finley and a number of folks in the Center for Michigan tribe cooked up the [...]

By center | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, The Center at Work | Comments (5)

It's time to start running the state like a business

September 25, 2009 – 10:55 am

By Richard T. Cole
I must admit that I am one resident of the state (perhaps there are others?) who is getting a bit tired of hearing that we need a strategy to save Michigan. What I think we need first is a dream upon which to build a strategy for a new [...]

By The Center for Michigan | Also posted in The Center at Work | Comments (9)

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